Why Now?

I know what you are thinking, well why not now? Exactly!

When Shelley MacDougall and I were designing our coaching-based leadership program, we devoted one of the twelve months to the concept of Self Leadership. The premise was that to be an Extraordinary Leader of others we need to lead ourselves. Most people have worked with a leader who seems to think that his or her people need to improve but they have no such need. Extraordinary Leaders know that to get the best from their people, they need to be their best. They know that their people are watching. They know that if they are not passionate about being their best, they are modeling the opposite of what they want for their people. One thing we have observed over 15 years of interviewing Extraordinary Leaders is that they don’t act like they have arrived. The seem to have humility and an acute awareness that they can continually improve.

Why now!

For many people in our program, July is one of the busiest months of the year. For some it is one of the slowest months of the year. If it is one of the slowest times of the year, you may have the time and space for some self reflection, but in the calm, quiet times it may not feel like you have a need to work on yourself. Things are going well, and it is a good time to relax and not think too much. In the busiest time of the year, you might be operating at a pace that there doesn’t seem to be time for much beyond just getting through it. It is also a time when seeing what needs to change is illuminated. What if in a time when you seem to be pulled in all directions and not showing up at your best, you discovered a way to change that.

Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up.

In the month of May, we focus on Extraordinary Vision. We support people in creating personal and professional visions. We help them get clear on where they want to go.

In the month of June, we focus on Extraordinary Goals. We support them in breaking their vision down to a series of goals that will move them toward their destination. We are aware that most people understand goal setting. We want to make sure they are successful in goal achievement.

In the month of August, we focus on Extraordinary Communication. We truly believe that the success we experience in life and in our careers is in direct correlation to the effectiveness of our communication.

In the month of July, we focus on Extraordinary Self Leadership.

Why now?

We thought that before we taught elements of communication that could change a person’s quality of leadership, we thought we should support the leader in being able to discover things about themselves that could enhance their message or eliminate something that might be getting in the way of their message. As we improve ourselves, we take those improvements to all parts of our lives. What if we could be better in leadership during the busiest or slowest of times? What if we could be better at home in the busiest or slowest of times? How will bringing out an improved or more self-aware version of ourselves move us toward our Vision, support us in achieving our goals and set us up for better communication?

Why now? If not now, when?

If you think it is time for some self-reflection and some self-leadership, we as coaches have many tools to support you with self discovery, designing your life and building plans to get there. Please reach out for support if you are interested.

One of the reasons people might not do it is because there is not enough time.

Don’t get too caught up with the time issue. I could be twenty minutes quietly sitting on a bench to make one small decision that could be a game changer.

Here are some things to think about:

• Who? Who are you? Who would you like to be seen as? Who do you need to be to achieve the goals you dream of? What are four words that describe who you are?
• What? What do you want your life to be like? What would you like to eliminate from your life? What would you like to add to your life? What dreams and goals excite you? What difference are you making?
• Where? Where are you? Are you present? Are you always somewhere else? Where would you like to go? Where do you seem happiest?
• Why? Why do you do what you do? Why don’t you do what you want to do? Why are you here? Why are you afraid to ask why?
• When? When is the right time to focus on you? When will you decide? When are you at your best? When do you see a side of you that you don’t like? When are you happiest? When will it be time to design your life?

Taking time to reflect, dream, design, decide, and create is a privilege. You deserve it!

Hopefully you have a great answer for the question “Why Now?”